Holmrook is a
linear village
Linearity is the property of a mathematical relationship (''function'') that can be graphically represented as a straight line. Linearity is closely related to '' proportionality''. Examples in physics include rectilinear motion, the linear r ...
in the English county of
Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...
. It lies along the
A595 road
The A595 is a primary route in Cumbria, in Northern England that starts in Carlisle, passes through Whitehaven and goes close to Workington, Cockermouth and Wigton. It passes Sellafield and Ravenglass before ending at the Dalton-in-Furness by ...
on the west banks of the
River Irt
The River Irt is a river in the county of Cumbria in northern England. It flows for from the south-western end of Wast Water, the deepest lake in England, leaving the lake at the foot of Whin Rigg, the southern peak of the famous Wastwater Scr ...
. The
B5344 road connects it to
Drigg
Drigg is a village situated in the civil parish of Drigg and Carleton on the West Cumbria coast of the Irish Sea and on the boundary of the Lake District National Park in the Borough of Copeland in the county of Cumbria, England.
Drigg and ...
, with its
railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
less than two miles to the west.
![Irton Hall - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Irton_Hall_-_geograph.org.uk_-_341543.jpg)
Two miles north-east along the Irt valley is Irton Hall, a large mostly 19th-century house which incorporates a 14th-century
pele tower
Peel towers (also spelt pele) are small fortified keeps or tower houses, built along the English and Scottish borders in the Scottish Marches and North of England, mainly between the mid-14th century and about 1600. They were free-standing ...
.
Holmrook Hall
Holmrook Hall was a
Victorian country house
An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...
, at one time owned by the Reverend Charles Skeffington Lutwidge. His relative Charles Lutwidge Dodgson - better known as the author, mathematician and photographer
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequel ...
- used to come and stay occasionally.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Holmrook Hall was requisitioned by the
Admiralty
Admiralty most often refers to:
*Admiralty, Hong Kong
*Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964
*The rank of admiral
*Admiralty law
Admiralty can also refer to:
Buildings
* Admiralty, Traf ...
on behalf of the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
, with locals told that it was a rest home for shipwrecked and distressed sailors. In fact, strategically located between
ROF Drigg and ROF Sellafield, it was the Royal Navy bomb and munitions training school between 1943 and 1946, under the title HMS Volcano. Designated a
Top Secret
Classified information is material that a government body deems to be sensitive information that must be protected. Access is restricted by law or regulation to particular groups of people with the necessary security clearance and need to know, ...
site, it trained Royal Navy personnel, the
Special Boat Service
The Special Boat Service (SBS) is the special forces unit of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. The SBS can trace its origins back to the Second World War when the Army Special Boat Section was formed in 1940. After the Second World War, the Roya ...
and
Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
* Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
* Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including ...
expatriates in the wartime use of explosives and demolition. Among the graduates of HMS Volcano were:
*Noel Cashford MBE
*
Lionel "Buster" Crabb OBE
After the war, the hall fell into disrepair and was demolished. Only the stable block remains, and has been converted to housing.
References
External links
Cumbria County History Trust: Drigg(nb: provisional research only - see Talk page)
*
Villages in Cumbria
Borough of Copeland
{{Cumbria-geo-stub